My Blog

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  • Acquiring Serenity Now…

    or how to buy a boat the hard way. Ian, the hurricane in late September 2022, tore up the port side of our sailboat. Although I had intended to repair the damage, it turned out to be too expensive and time-consuming. I loved that sailboat – it was the perfect size and I understood the…

  • Taxing the Poor

    “I am for doing good to the poor, but…I think the best way of doing good to the poor, is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it. I observed…that the more public provisions were made for the poor, the less they provided for themselves, and of course became…

  • Second Half of our Road Trip – Aracaju to Volta Redonda

    If you read my last post about our Brazilian road trip, you know that our trip north was a bit of a marathon.  We had secured hotel reservations ahead of time, locking us into a three-day travel schedule that really wasn’t much fun at all.  Despite what we thought,  BR-101 was not a great road…

  • Road Trip – Brazil Style, New Years 2015 Volta Redonda to Aracaju.

    Volta Redonda to Aracaju Road Trip, December, 2014 After spending Christmas, 2014 at our home in Volta Redonda, state of Rio de Janeiro, we were planning on visiting Monica’s Aunt Laiz in Aracaju, in the State of Sergipe, in the northeast of Brazil.  It’s only 2000km, or about 1200 miles, so we decided to do…

  • Down the ICW – July, 2013

    We recently moved from near Philadelphia to SW Florida.  The very last part of the move was to get our sail boat to our new home.  Our Hunter 28.5 had spent the winter on the hard in Chesapeake City, where it received a lot of loving attention – including a new bottom job, a chartplotter,…

  • What Are They Smoking?

    The legislature in Colorado, where they just legalized dope smoking, has passed five gun control bills.  In case you were wondering about how well-informed the legislators in Colorado were, check this out.  Connecticut just passed another assault weapons ban, tighter than the one that they had in effect when that nutcase shot up that elementary school…

  • Why I WIll Always Love the South

    ..because they still have standards. Watch your mouth when speaking to that girl behind the counter. She’s somebody’s daughter, and you wouldn’t want to piss off a southern daddy.

  • The Gun Grabbing Hypocrites Have No Shame.

    Here’s a guy that has seen his share of problems. His wife was shot by a nutcase murderer. Last week, he paraded his recovering ex-congresswoman wife in front of hearings in order to try to keep us from owning our “assault rifles”. Note that his wife was shot with a pistol. So, what does he…

  • Been a Busy Week.

    Traveled to Elmira, NY yesterday for my grandfather’s funeral.  Five hours to drive up, two hours in the funeral home, and a five hour drive home.  Bonnie insists on riding on my lap, so I waited to change into the black suit until we arrived.  Interesting thing about funerals – everyone is so nice.  We met…

  • Gripes About Apartment Living

    In December, I signed a six-month lease on an apartment because our house had sold and we needed a short-term place to live until I can finish the process of retirement.  Because I have a dog, my choices were somewhat limited, but I found a pretty nice place.  Let’s face it, I could have found a nicer place,…